Barbie and Beast
by The Not Normal One
Summary: I am a huge Forwood shipper but I love the idea of Daroline. So here is a Daroline story from me and I hope you like it :) Starts from friendship to love with a bit of angst in between ! Not a one-shot but it will be a short story. Set after Season 2 ! Rated M for safety reasons ;)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_**This was an unexpected story coz I had no idea that I ould ever be writing for TVD. But here we are and I really hope that you're going to like it. Daroline story, coz I just love love the idea, though I'm a FORWOOD shipper. The story will be a short one, will try to finish it within a few chapters, till then, enjoy the ride.**_

He was feeling weak. He never feels weak, that's not how he rolls. He tries to remember what happened last but all he could remember was him trying to save Caroline from getting bitten by Tyler on that godforsaken night where everything went downhill. They managed to save Elena but they had lost Jenna as well as John. Though he could care less about the Gilbert guy but Jenna was a good person. The only family to Elena and Jeremy and the light of his best friend, Ric's life.

"Shit!" he exclaims.

He remembered now why he was in this position. He was bitten by Tyler that night. A werewolf bite is fatal for vampires. He knew this coz of his firsthand experience with Rose, a friend he did not expect to make but she had somehow managed to get past the walls he had made around himself and had been a comfort to him, till she was bit by Jules, the female werewolf. He did not want to remember that time.

"You are awake." He heard a familiar voice, but he wasn't expecting _this_ voice to be the one. He had actually hoped to see Elena there, internally hoped that she would be there taking care of him. She had always been such a kind hearted girl. But it was not the brunette he expected to be there, instead it was the blonde standing in the doorway to his room.

"What are you doing here, Blondie?" he asked annoyed.

"Well since no one is here, I'm stuck taking care of you" the blonde said in a mock angry voice, trying to match his annoyed tone.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me" the annoyance still evident in his voice.

"Well, I don't care about that so deal with it. I promised Stefan and Ric that I'll take care of you so that's what I'm doing. Shut up with your annoying moaning of how you don't need help." The blonde said in a no-nonsense tone which left the vampire speechless.

"Uhmm … ahh! Where are they?" he asked. The blonde looked at him cautiously.

"Who?" she asked taking a step towards him as the vampire tried to sit up. She was beside him in a blink and helped him to sit up, pushing a pillow behind him.

"Stefan and Ric" he said like it was obvious.

"Damon, don't you remember?" she asked, taking his name for the first time since he woke up.

"Remember? Remember what? Caroline what is it?" he asked confused.

The blonde unexpectedly took his hand in hers. Her face a mixture of pain and pity. Damon did not understand any of it.

"Caroline … what are you not telling me?" Damon asked again.

"Damon, Stefan left with Klaus." The blonde said cautiously. "That was Klaus's deal for the cure he gave to heal you. Did Katherine not tell you about this? I thought you knew about it all." She told him sympathetically. Even if the older Salvatore did not show, he loved his brother more than anything and it was definitely not one sided. Both brothers could die for each other, however infuriating they might be for each other at times.

As the words left Caroline's lips, Damon remembered exactly what had happened. Elena was there with him, trying to keep him company in his last moments when Katherine had showed up with the cure. Elena had asked her why she was there and where Stefan was. The vampire had told them all about the deal Stefan had made with Klaus to get the cure for his brother and that he won't be home, for a very long time.

Damon did not show it but he was devastated. He did not want his baby brother to go play martyr for him, dammit! He should be the one dying. He did not even care for this life but he cared about his brother. Elena had been heart broken after hearing the news.

Katherine had left as soon as she was done and so had Elena. That was all he remembered from the night. He knew he took the cure, Katherine had forced it down his throat before leaving and then he woke up today.

"I need to go get him. I can't let Klaus do whatever he intends to do with my brother. No way in hell." Damon said angrily, trying to get up from the bed, in haste.

"Damon, now is not the time." The blonde told him, the no nonsense tone still evident. "You are still weak; it hasn't been 12 hours yet. The cure takes time to heal if the bite is older than 24 hours. We all want to get Stefan back and I know how much you love him but you have to get better before you do something reckless. I promise you I'll help you get Stefan back but you need to gain strength before doing anything."

Damon looked at her cautiously. When did the blonde get so mature? He thought to himself. Wasn't she the insecure neurotic girl who needed approval from her friends before she did anything? When did she become this calm composed level-headed girl? If he thought about it, actually, she had been like this for a long time now, he just did not notice or may be it wasn't important to him then but now he could clearly see the changes in the blonde.

He did not even see that she had moved from her place in the bed and now was a few steps away from him near his shelf. She was getting something from there. What? He did not have to ask coz she was next to him in a second holding a blood bag for him.

"You need to drink, here" she said thrusting the bag towards him.

"Thanks" he took it. Appreciation clear in his voice and she gave him a small smile. Well, that wasn't so hard, she thought to herself.

"And Ric?" the Salvatore asked from the bed. The other vampire was near the door, may be she had to go somewhere. She looked back at him.

"He's okay. He'll be here tonight probably. I'll let him know you are awake. Its been a hard day for him. First Jenna and then you, he hasn't stopped drinking from what Matt told me.

Matt! Oh yes, even he knew about the supernatural now. But his thoughts did not linger there long. Ric needed him, he thought. But he could not go to him, not yet.

"Hey Blondie!" he called though she was not in the room. She could hear him, of course. He heard her downstairs, doing something;

"Yes?" she asked back. A smile graced her face at the familiar nickname he had given her.

"Can you call Ric now? Tell him to come here, we can drink together. I don't think leaving him alone is a good idea right now. May be your mutt boyfriend can give him a ride or something." Damon said.

"I'll do that" she did not say anything else. It was clearly evident that the 172 year old vampire cared deeply for his friend, however crappy his ways were to show it.

"Hello. Care?" It was Matt she had called. "Want update on Mr. Saltzman?" he asked humorously. The vampire had been calling him every hour to check on their history teacher.

"Yeah! About that. Can you tell Ric that Damon's awake? And he would like if Ric was here. In Damon's words, 'He could give him company with all the drinking.'" She chuckled. She knew Damon could hear her and even Matt over the phone but she did not care, of course. "And if he's bit too drunk, can you give him a ride to the boarding house?"

"Yeah sure. I'll see to it that he gets there." He replied sincerely. After the fall-out Matt had taken a liking to all these people. They were his friends, he would not turn his back on them.

"Thanks Matt." The blonde replied cheerfully before hanging up.

"Ric will be here." she said. Damon heard the conversation of course, but it didn't hurt to let him know.

The blonde went it the kitchen and started dinner.

"What should I make for dinner?" she asked no one in particular. Of course there was only her and Damon in the house and its not like Damon had any interest in what dinner she was making but they did eat human food and Ric would be here too.

"Whatever you want Blondie, doesn't matter much." The Salvatore answered sitting in his bed. He was bored. It would be sometime till Ric gets here and it was getting on his nerves to sit here like that when there was so much to be done. But the blonde was right, he was weak.

She shook her head. Of course it doesn't matter to him. She looked into the kitchen cabinets and like she suspected, there was nothing in there. 'Don't they ever eat?' she asked herself. After quite a lot of searching she found ingredients to make mac & cheese. This should be enough, she thought.

It was almost 15 minutes later when she heard the sound of tiers in the Salvatore driveway. She could hear Ric and Matt outside so she quickly got to open the door for them.

"Ric's here Damon" she called out.

"I can hear him, Blondie!" he replied sarcastically.

Caroline shook her head. 'Why do I even bother?' she thought.

She helped Ric up to Damon's room. He looked much better now. "I'll bring dinner up here," she said before leaving the two friends to them.

"You okay?" Ric asked once Caroline left the room.

"Of course I am. Barbie wont let me up though, says am not strong enough." He said in mock annoying tone. "Whatever. I'll be up running in a few hours." he said.

"She is right. You are weak. Just take it easy for a while." Ric said, shaking his head. 'Damon, always so stubborn' he thought.

"Enough about me, what have you been doing? I heard you drank half of Mystic Falls stock in one day? I am disappointed, my friend. All alone? You could not wait for me to wake up?" Damon said in a mock hurt tone.

Rick chuckled. May be for the first time after Jenna's death. The past few days had not been easy on the hunter. He had lost the woman he loved, his best friend almost died and another friend was off paying debt for saving said best friend's life. Life was a mess.

"Yeah! I saved the other half. We can finish that off together later" he said to the vampire. He knew Damon, he was hurting for Stefan. He won't say it but it showed, Damon's eyes were the most expressive. And Ric could read him like no other.

Downstairs Caroline could hear everything that was being said. She loved how both friends loved each other so much, even though Damon killed Ric, twice. She shook her head at the weird notion. Only Mystic Falls could have people like this. And of course Damon had to be one of them.

She sat with Matt and talked to him for sometime while dinner was getting ready in the ove. He left shortly after that but not before Caroline packed him some dinner. She had made so much that it could feed there whole friend's group.

After sometime when she thought it was okay she got three plates and cutleries in a tray along with some bread and the mac & cheese, upstairs.

"I hope you two are decent" she called before peering into the room. Ric laughed and Damon just gave his trademark smirk.

"No we are not, so you could come back later" he said sarcastically.

"Well, I'm already here so I'll just suck it up" she said before putting the tray in the table.

"What is it? Please tell me you didn't burn my kitchen down" Damon said worried.

"Oh shut up you ass. Everything is fine. Now eat up. You need your strength and Alaric, if you don't eat I'll force it down your throat. Don't make me say it twice, coz I won't. I'll just do it." She said before getting three plates ready for the three of them.

"God Care, how much did you think we were gonna eat? It could feed a whole army." Ric said, laughing at the quantity of food displayed in front of them.

"errr … I wasn't paying much attention to the 'how much' part. It doesn't matter. I'll just pack and keep it in the fridge. We can eat it later" she said before handing them their plates.

"I won't die after eating this, will I?" Damon asked, as if the blonde had poisoned his food. Ric and Care just shook their heads at his antiques.

"Decide for yourself" she said before she dug into her plate. She was quite hungry herself.

Damon took the first bite and he had to stop himself from moaning. It was delicious. Ric did not even bother to stop the moan that escaped his lips, making Caroline laugh.

'She is beautiful when she laughs.' Damon was stunned at the sudden thought that crossed his mind. Thank god he did not say it out loud, that would have been embarrassing.

They ate in a comfortable silence, once or twice engaging themselves in mundane chit-chats. It was no surprise that both the men sought out more food, coz they didn't even realized that their plate was empty in no time. Caroline was totally okay with it. She loved to cook, though there weren't many people that knew about this talent of hers. The food was finished before they knew it. The tray now empty in front of them.

"How did you learn such amazing cooking?" Ric asked once they were done.

"Its nothing really." The blond would have blushed if she could. "When you live with a mother who is always out fulfilling her duties to the society you have to fend for yourself." She said ruefully. "I learned cooking pretty early, and the 'good' part probably came with time." She laughed.

"Anyways, I should clean these up. Do you two want me to get you anything?" she asked as she walked back from the sink from Damon's bathroom.

No one expected what she did next. It was odd but she did it like she had been doing it for years. She got a soaked cloth from the bathroom and washed Damon's face and hand. All this while talking to Ric.

Alaric was stunned for a moment before he regained his composure. He walked to the bathroom and washed himself up.

"Nah! We are good I guess. I'll just go get us two glasses and a bottle." He said starting to walk towards the door.

"No. you sit down, I'll go get it. You both need to lie down, get some rest." She finished freshening Damon up, went back to the bathroom, kept the cloth there and walked out of the room. It took her less than a minute to return back with three glasses and one of Damon's favorite Bourbon.

Damon was still sitting like he had seen some ghost. Caroline was confused and Ric looked like was having trouble keeping his laughter in.

"What's going on?" she asked confused. Her voice might have shook Damon out of his transfixes.

"Nothing!" both men said simultaneously.

"Oh-kay" she stretched. 'Weird' she thought but didn't say anything out loud.

Ric moved to the table and poured all three of them the alcohol she bought.

"Thanks" she said taking the glass in her hand. "I'm gonna go hit the sack. Ric, I cleaned the next room for you if you want. I'll be downstairs in the guest bedroom" she said, smiling at the duo.

"Thank you, Care" Ric smiled. The blonde had been doing all she could to make everything easier for the two of them and Alaric was sincerely thankful. "I'll just stay here with Damon for a bit before getting some sleep. Good night, Care" he said to the smiling blonde.

"No problem. Just call me in you need anything. I'm a light sleeper" she told before turning to Damon. The Salvatore had not said much of anything lately.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, running a hand through his hair absent-mindedly.

"Yeah! I'm fine" he said, startled. It was then she noticed what she was doing and quickly excused herself from the company of both men.

She said a quick good night and before either could reply she was out of Damon's room.

She walked downstairs to the guest room she had now occupied as hers. She went in the attached bathroom and after a quick shower changed into one of her pajama shorts and a tank top. She lied down with her copy of 'Gone with the Wind'. It was her favorite book and she wasn't sleepy, at all.

It was an hour later she heard Ric leaving Damon's room and going to his. He was out within minutes after his head hit the pillow. She sighed and turned to look at the table clock. It read 2 am. It was really late.

"Get some sleep Caroline" she murmured to herself and put the lights out in her room after keeping the book in the night-stand.

She was halfway asleep when she heard the distinct sound of Damon's voice. She might have been dreaming but something told her she wasn't.

"Good Night, Caroline" he said softly into the darkness of the night.

"Good Night, Damon" he heard just before sleep overtook him.

**A/N: _Dont forget to lemme know what you liked and where I screwed up. ^_^_**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: _Thank you for all the hits and follows and favorites :) You people made my day. And that is why ... the next chapter is up early :D Hope you'll like it s well._**

The next few days went on without much to do. Damon was better of course but he was also brooding in his own Damonic way over Stefan's going away.

Caroline had shifted to the boarding house for lack of better words. She was always there, tending to whatever Damon or Ric needed. May it be helping with making plans to get Stef back or cooking food for the guys or taking care of the house. Ric was with him most of the time, when he wasn't in the Gilbert house to check on Elena or Jeremy.

Damon had not seen Elena after that night. Ric told him about how sad she looked all the time and barely came out of her room but he couldn't have it in himself to go check on her by himself. After all it was his fault that Stefan had to leave with Klaus. Atleast he knew she wasn't alone and that Bonnie and Jer were there for her. Even Caroline checked on her from time to time.

"Hey! You're up!" he heard Caroline say from the living room as he walked down the stairs. She gave him her signature smile. He had actually expected the blonde to leave the next day when he was all better but somehow he was really relieved that she was still there. And then the next few days she had all but taken care of every need he had. Though he was a fully capable vampire who could do almost anything, she rarely let him.

"Yeah!" he smiled back. "What are you doing up so early?" he asked the blonde. It was only 7 in the morning and she usually sleeps till 9. And if she wasn't anything, she wasn't a morning person.

"Well, school starts from today so I've to be ready within an hour and leave after making breakfast for you and Ric. What do you want today?" she asked getting up from the couch.

"Wow! You almost sound like a house-wife, Blondie!" he said amused but he was also bit elated at the thought that she would do something like that for him, make time for him like this. Though somewhere inside he was also bit annoyed that school was starting today. He won't have anything to do, anyone to talk to. Both she and Ric would be gone and that irritated him.

"Don't sweat it, Damon" she said rolling her eyes.

She was pulling out a pan in the kitchen when Ric came down. He had also been sleeping in the boarding house most nights now. It was too much for the human to spend nights in a house where his dead girlfriend used to live.

"Some toast should be fine" Ric said answering her question, avoiding Damon's incredulous look entirely.

"Okay! By the way Ric, do you need lift to school?" the blonde asked, already halfway mixing stuff for the toasts.

"Yeah! Yeah that would be great. Thanks Care" Ric smiled. "I'll just go take a shower after the breakfast and meet you before we leave. That okay?"

"Yeah. That's cool. I will do the same and then we'll leave." She smiled at the human. "What are you going to do when we are in school?" she asked, turning to Damon.

"I don't know. May be I'll go out today. See what's going on, check in with your mother and Carol about the council. Yeah … I'll do that." Damon said shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Oh! Well … that would keep you busy I guess." The blonde replied and just then the toaster went off. She got three plates for each of then and poured coffee before bringing it to the table.

"There you go" she smiled placing the toast and coffee in front of them before taking her seat in the table.

"Thanks Blondie" Damon smirked at her and she just shook her head.

"By the way, could you drop by at school after the lunch break, I have something to show. May be even you could come in to my classroom." Ric said, eating his breakfast.

"Yeah okay. I'll be there" the blonde said. "I'm gonna go get a blood-bag. You need one, Damon?" she asked, placing her plate in the sink.

"Yeah. Thanks." He said, surprised that she asked but then on second thought, she always does.

"What is going on?" Ric whispered as lowly as he could, though he knew it was highly unlikely that Caroline would not hear what he said to Damon.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked back, oh so innocently.

"You know very well. What's up with Care?" he asked more lowly now. He was certain that Care could not listen to him this low from the basement, though he was highly mistaken.

Caroline was just outside the room, the two blood-bags already in her hand. And when she heard her name, her interest piqued, coz she herself wanted to know what was going on in Damon's head about all this.

"What do you mean what's up with Care? As much as I can see, she seems fine" Damon played nicely coz unlike Ric, Damon had heard Caroline come back and he knew she was just outside.

"If you are so interested, why don't you ask her yourself." He smirked. "So Caroline, Ric wants to know what is up with you, please do enlighten us." Smirk still intact in place.

Ric shook his head, of course, he thought. Caroline felt like an idiot. How could she, even for one second think that Damon did not hear her come in. She faked nonchalance.

"What do you mean?" she asked handing him his blood-bag. "Anyways, I'm gonna go take my shower. I'll meet you here in 20 minutes, okay Ric?" she asked before Damon could say anything else.

"Yeah! I should do that too." Ric quickly got up, kept his plate in the sink and ran up the stair. Damon sat there, watching them amused.

Both Ric and Caroline came downstairs, ready to go. Damon was now sitting in the living room couch, reading the day's paper.

"So you guys going now?" he said, without looking up from the paper.

"Yeah! We'll see you after lunch hour?" Ric asked.

"Yeah! I'll be there" he said looking up and he was somehow awestruck. It wasn't like the blonde was wearing anything over the top. It was a simple summer halter top and her jean shorts. Her hair open and that bracelet she always wore on her hand but somehow, Damon thought. she had never looked more beautiful.

"See you then" Caroline smiled, kissed him on the cheek and then walked out of the house. Damon was still staring at her. Ric saw Damon's face and he wanted to laugh but he did not say anything and just left along with Caroline after a quick bye.

It wasn't until Damon heard the front door slam that he came out of his reverie. Did she really just kiss him on the cheeks? Why would she do that? Did she do it just spontaneously? Did she like it? Did _he_ like it? His brain fired off questions after questions and he couldn't think of anything.

At last he just dumped the paper on the table and walked back to his room. After a long shower he called Liz to check up and she asked him to meet her in her office.

Carol was already there when Damon reached Liz's office.

"So? What do you have for me? Any more problems?" the vampire asked, taking his seat.

"Actually there is. Not in Mystic falls yet but we have tracked down a vampire and from what we see, he is a … a ripper." Liz said, a bit hesitantly.

Damon was up from his seat before the words were even out of the Sheriff's mouth.

"You don't mean to say that it's him, do you? Coz we both know very well that it's not him. He's in Texas Liz, you know it. We have been tracking him." The vampire sounded desperate. It can't be his brother, he knew it.

"No Damon, we are not saying its Stefan." Carol came to defense. "But the patterns are quite similar, so we do have a problem in our hands. If this guy gets to Mystic Falls, we are not safe"

As soon as Carol said it, the first thought that came to Damon's mind was Caroline. Not Elena, not even himself but the blonde vampire who had been taking care of him these days. Has been when no one else was there.

I can't let anything happen to her. I won't, he thought before looking back at the two women in front of him.

"I'll take care of it. You two relax. I'll go there tonight and see what can be done. I'll just need a copy of your reports." He said seriously and Liz was already handing him the file.

"You'll find everything we could make out in this file. Just get rid of it and be careful" Liz said. Though she knew of him being a vampire, she did care for him. He was still a friend to the Sheriff.

"I will" the Salvatore smirked and tipped his head before heading out with the file in his hands.

It was almost the end of lunch hour when he reached the school area. He walked straight to Ric's classroom after sending off texts to both him and Care that he was there.

Ric was already there when Damon came. And by the look on his face, Ric knew that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"We have a problem. We've got a vampire situation in the next town and it might be a problem for us if we don't take care of it now. Liz said they have been tracking it for sometime and from what they have gathered, they think it's _another_ ripper. And they are right. I saw the reports." He said, handing the file to his friend.

Ric opened the file, going through all the information's provided. He could see why Damon was so concerned and so angry. This vampire was more ruthless and wasn't like Stefan. It didn't have a problem with its control, this vampire did it for fun, and that made Ric angry too.

"Heyy!" Caroline came in the room, her smile in place as always. She quickly came to stand by Damon's side and like it was nothing, she kissed his cheek, again. Damon was still looking at her but Ric had not noticed much since he was still engrossed in the file.

"So, what did you have to tell us about, Ric?" she asked turning towards Ric.

Damon was standing like a dumb. Did she really not realize that she had just kissed him? Again? Or did she not care? Or may be it wasn't a big deal for her. But how could she not see the effect she had on him these days, every-time something like this happened?

"I think my thing can wait. We've got a bit of a situation here that needs to be taken care of." Ric said, at last acknowledging her in the room and passed her the file.

"What do you mean?" she furrowed her brows in confusion while taking the file from Ric. The gasp that fell from her lips wasn't gone unnoticed by either of the men.

"It's not Stefan, it cant be." She said with a determination in her voice.

"We already know that Care, that's why this needs to be taken care of as soon as possible."

"Yeah okay! When are we taking care of it then?" she asked as she gave the file back to Ric.

"_We_ are taking care of it tonight and by 'we' I mean me and Ric. You won't be anywhere near that psychopath." Damon said determination clear in his tone.

"The hell I am not. I'm not some fragile little human who cannot take care of herself." Caroline said angrily.

"You are still a baby vamp and I'm not taking any chances." Damon was not budging but neither was Caroline. They threw arguments at each other, no one backing down. Ric watched them in amusement.

"See … even if you don't take me with you, I'll just follow you on my own so its entirely upto you whether you want me with you or following behind you." She said seriously. She knew she had him there.

The girl sometimes totally infuriated him. All he wanted was her to be safe. He had already lost too many in the past few days and he didn't want to loose her too. As it is, it was dangerous to even take Ric with him but he knew Ric could handle himself, he knew what he was doing.

But Caroline was not much of the experienced here. But he knew that Caroline was right. It was better if she was with him where he could see her, knew he was safe, he could atleast protect her if something happened. But if she was on her own, he wouldn't be able to do that. So finally he relented with a huff.

"Good! Now lets get on with the plan on what we'll do. I'll be back in a minute." Caroline winked and before they could respond she was gone.

"This is getting better and better everyday" Alaric mused.

Damon just glared at his friend and rolled his eyes. It only increased Ric's amusement.

"Don't say it. Don't you dare say anything." Damon huffed and that just made Ric laugh harder.

"What are you laughing about?" Care asked as she came back, now with her bag slung over her shoulders.

"Not much. What are you doing with your bag? Don't you have 2 more classes to go?" Ric asked.

"Nope! I just compelled Ms. Darby to get me excused for the rest of the classes today" Caroline winked making Ric roll his eyes.

"Now! What are we going to do about this unwanted guest?" She asked turning to look at Damon.

Damon was going through turmoil in that head of his. Caroline, for the lack of better words, had suddenly turned to be that part of his existence that he never gave a second thought about before and now-a-days all he could think of was about her. This was not at all what he had expected this blonde to be.

When he didn't say anything to Caroline's question Ric took it upon himself to do the part. Damon joined in soon. He had to keep his head straight if he was going to get that vampire dead.

They planned they would be leaving around sundown so that they can be in the next town by the night and then they will begin their search and take whatever necessary steps needed to get their work done.

"Lets go back to the boarding house. We have most of your stuff there only" Damon said looking at Alaric, who nodded. They would need the weapons tonight.

"Okay then. Lets go" Caroline skipped to the door before the two of them and started walking out of school.

When Alaric was sure that the blonde vampire was out of ear's reach he grabbed Damon's arm and pulled him back to the nearby corridor.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Since when do you, Damon, do awestruck?" Ric asked him.

"I don't know, okay? I just don't know. Something is going on and its not what I expected but it is happening and I cant stop it. Just … just drop it for now. Lets keep our head on the problem at hand for tonight. Tomorrow we can deal with it." Damon said, shaking his head.

To say he was confused would be an understatement but like he said, for tonight he had other things to think of, to worry about.

They walked out of the school together and saw Caroline leaning against her car.

"I need to go to the Gilbert house. Why don't I take your car and you go with Caroline?" Ric said.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Damon said exasperated. "No way in hell!"

Caroline and Ric both shook their head at his antiques.

"Just take my car Ric, I'll go with him and we'll meet you back in the house in an hour." Caroline said, handing him the keys to her car.

"Thanks Care!" Ric smiled and took the keys from her and rolling his eyes at Damon who just huffed in response.

It wasn't long before all three got into the cars and drove of to their respective destinations. The ride back to the boarding house was kind of eerie quiet. Both vampires contemplating whether or not to say anything to the other. At the end, both remained quiet.

They reached the boarding house soon and got in. Damon walked up to his room while Caroline went to the guestroom she was staying in. they both took a shower and came back to the living room changed.

The silence was somewhat awkward this time, between them. Caroline walked down to the basement to get two blood-bags while Damon got two glasses. They worked so much in sync that it was scary but neither of them noticed any of it.

He realized that part when he held his hand out to her and she placed the blood-bags on them without any other thought. It really scared him how they knew exactly what the other was thinking or doing even without saying. He thought better to not talk about it and just poured the blood on both glasses and handed one to her.

Caroline played it off. She too thought she should not give inkling to the fact on how at sync they are with each other these days. It wasn't just today that this has happened. It has been going for almost a week now. She does something before he asks for it or he does something before she can say anything.

The other day, Ric was again at the Gilbert house to check on Jer and Lena when this happened. She had just gotten him his coffee, black with two sugar cubes and come to sit with him on the sofa. He was surfing through the TVchannels and without her even saying he stopped on when he saw American idol was on.

Had it been a month ago, and she were watching it on any TV in the boarding house, he would have taken the remote from her and changed the channel but that day he himself put it on and they both sat and watched the show, sometimes commenting on how each of the contestants were while sipping into their coffee.

That was how Ric found them when he got back to the boarding house; Watching TV and two cups of coffee in the table in front of them. Damon was leaning back on the sofa and Care was sitting close to him but wasn't leaning on. Sometime he would comment something or at times she would and the other would nod in response. It was like they were an old married couple who knew everything about their partner and were so comfortable around each other.

The same thing happened today. Ric came back to them both sitting on the sofa. Two glasses of blood in their hands while watching TV. He didn't say anything to either of them but he was kind of happy for his friend, even though his friend had no idea about what exactly was going on.

Once Ric took a shower and got changed he came back to the living area. By the time he got back, Care had gotten him a sandwich to eat which he enjoyed thoroughly. Both men were totally spoiled by her cooking.

They planned some more before they went down to the basement to get their weapons and got ready for the night.

'She won't be harmed' was the last thought in his mind before they left the boarding house for the day to hunt their unwanted guest down.

**A/N: _And like I said before, lemme know what you liked and what you don't !_**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**_**: First of all, thanks you soooo much for all the hits and favorites and follows and reviews. They mean so much more than you**__**would know ! I know I'm kinda late with this next chapter but I will be kind of posting on the basis of 1 chapter in 1 week. Let**__**s not take more of your time and give you what you want; more Daroline goody :D**_

The three arrived at the town around 8 in the night and parked in front of the local grill. Like Mystic Falls, this town, Riverland, was also quite small. They went inside the grill and sat on a table.

"So what are we gonna do now?" the blonde asked as they looked around for any indication of the vampire they were hunting for.

"Well, we look around. What my guess is that unlike us, he doesn't have a day ring, since all the attacks have been done after sun down and its very rare for vampires to get those rings. I mean, it's not guaranteed but there are zero attacks in the day. So I think night is the only chance we have at finding him when he comes out to hunt." Damon said as he flicked a finger to get the attention of a waitress.

She of course was too happy to oblige. Damon knew the effect he had on the opposite sex and he used it to whatever extent he could.

"What can I get you?" the waitress said in a little too sultry voice than what Caroline would have liked.

The blonde vampire cleared her throat getting the attention of the other two sitting in the table with her, and the waitress, but the girl was too busy to actually notice that. Every second she spent eye-fucking Damon was a second closer to making Caroline's anger rise.

"Three bourbon" Caroline said in a dismissive tone, "and make it quick." She slapped her hand in the table making the girl jump slightly.

"Ye-yes ma'am" the girl left quickly, but not before winking at Damon.

"No professionalism" Caroline huffed. Damon rolled his eyes and Ric was amused. This was getting better and better everyday, he thought.

"Anyways, so we all go separate ways? That we have better chances at finding this guy." Caroline said.

"NO!" Damon almost shouted. "I mean, you are still a baby vamp and as much as I know Ric is capable, he'll need an extra pair of better senses in the night and also this vamp guy, whoever he is, is not a mellow one. So you two will go together and I'll go alone." He explained.

"Hey! I'm not a baby vamp!" the blonde was enraged. But then he was right, Ric would need help. He alone wasn't a safe option at this time of the night, especially in front of a ruthless ripper.

Ric didn't say anything. He knew why Damon wanted to have the two together. Damon would have taken Care with him, but he needed to do this alone and he couldn't let her go on her own. So Ric was only happy to help his friend out.

"Whatever Blondie, but you two are sticking together." He said, and that was the end of discussion.

The waitress brought their orders and before she left, she tried to subtly give Damon a piece of paper but since both of them were vampires, they didn't miss it and neither did Ric.

"What a bitch!" the blonde vampire exclaimed, once the waitress left the table. Both Ric and Damon laughed at her sudden outburst.

"Chill Barbie! Poor girl doesn't even know what she just invited into her life by giving me that paper" the dark haired vampire smirked.

Caroline raised her eyebrow as if to say 'Really?'

"No! I mean, it's not like I'm going to take up on her offer. As it is, we are here only for tonight, or tomorrow night max." Damon shrugged and the other two rolled their eyes.

"Anyways, we should get a room in a motel. We need to at least have that for a show and talk without so much audience." Ric said.

"Ya! You're right. Let's get going" Damon pulled his wallet out from his jeans and paid for their drinks and the three left.

They booked a room in a motel just in the outskirts of the town. Once they got settled in, Ric took the bag of weapons out. They took what they needed and all three got ready for the night.

"Whatever happens, you two stick together. And you have your cell phones, right?" Damon asked and the other two nodded their heads. "Just call me if anything happens, okay?"

"Ya! You do the same. If you find him, call us and we'll be there" Ric said and Damon of course rolled his eyes but gave them a small nod.

"Okay then, let's go!" They locked their room and got in the car. They had previously looked for some places where they could find the vampire and Damon stopped his car in the public parking area.

"Okay so you two are going to look around the town a bit and I'll head to the grill. That's where most people will be and he probably picks his preys from their itself. But if you find anything unusual, call me." Damon told the other two.

"Okay!" Caroline looked at him and took a step closer. The raven-haired vampire was all too aware of her proximity.

"Be safe?" she said in a small voice and the older vampire rolled his eyes. As if!

"Don't worry about me, Blondie. You two look out." Ric nodded his head and Caroline gave him a soft nod.

"Okay then, lets go." The blonde vampire said and turned to go with Ric to look around.

"Hey Blondie!" Damon called when they were a few feet away. She turned and he gave her the crooked smile she loved so much. "Don't get killed!" he shouted.

Caroline rolled her eyes but smiled none-the-less and shrugged.

"I'll see what I can do, Salvatore." she said nonchalantly, making Ric and Damon chuckle.

With that said, the three left to go to their decided places and look for what they had come here to do.

It had been almost half an hour and Damon was sitting in the grill. No signs of any intruder, what-so-ever. He ordered his second bourbon while taking the last sip from his first glass.

Suddenly, the vampire became super wary, when he felt his cell phone go off. He quickly pulled it out and saw it was indeed Alaric.

"What happened? Did you find him?" he asked before his friend could say anything.

"I think we did. Caroline said she could smell him, and we are looking around. Its near the woods, on the western sides. We're entering the woods if we don't find him in sometime. See you!" and then the hunter hung up.

Damon was already outside the grill by that time. He took off in the direction of what Ric said. By next 5 minutes he was there but his two friends were not. He could smell them, so they were most definitely here sometime back.

Thinking they went in the woods to look, he too entered the woods. He sniffed and started walking towards the scent of both his friends. Within no time, he reached where Ric was but dread filled him when he saw Caroline wasn't with the hunter.

"Oh! Thank god you're here. Care … she took off" Ric confirmed his fears. He should have known Blondie would do something stupid to put herself in danger.

"She's grounded once I find her." the raven-haired vampire said in frustration and Ric would have laughed at his statement if he wasn't so worried himself.

Both men started to move around to look for the blonde vampire. In a distance, Damon thought he heard her and they started moving that way. Her scent was getting stronger with each passing moment.

"I can smell her, but why can I not hear anything? It's not even like there is any other scent mixed with hers. Where is she?" Damon was getting more and more irritated.

"Shit!" he heard his best friend exclaim.

"What?" he asked as he turned but he didn't need the hunter to answer him. He could see it clearly.

In some distance, Caroline was sprawled in the ground, her shirt bloodied and of course, she wasn't breathing. It was like punch in his gut, when the older vampire saw her like that.

They both rushed to her. Her neck wasn't snapped nor was any stake nearby so that was better but she was bloodied. Caroline had made it a habit to keep breathing even though vampires didn't need to. She said, it felt uncomfortable when she didn't. And now that Damon could see her like this, he felt sick to his stomach.

"Dammit Blondie! Why can't you listen?" he said angrily as he slit down next to her.

"Caroline? Care can you hear me?" Ric was trying to see what was wrong with the blonde girl but he couldn't come up with anything.

"Its vervain. Whoever it was, and I think I know pretty well who, they shot her with vervain darts." Damon said from next to him.

He bit into his hand and brought it near Caroline's mouth. Force feeding an unconscious vampire wasn't an easy task but he had to do it if he wanted her to be okay anytime soon.

After a few minutes, both felt the blonde vampire stir a bit. Slowly she opened her eyes and found two frantic eyes looking back at her. She was still feeding on Damon and she had never tasted anything better than this, ever.

"Are you okay?" her reverie was broken when Ric spoke. She tried to sit up but she was still a bit weak. But she could feel her strength getting back.

"Yeah" The blonde nodded her head. "I've been better and though I should be much more weaker, it feels like my strength is coming back."

"That's because I gave you my blood." The raven haired vampire answered. She was a new, baby-vamp, he thought. She didn't know all the ins and outs or the technicalities of being a vampire.

"What do you mean?" She asked, curious.

"That is a really good question but for another time. We have a task in hand right now. I would prefer you go back to the motel room and sleep but knowing you that's not gonna happen so we all three stick together now. I can't come running to save you every time something like this happens Blondie." He said exasperated.

"I am sorry" tears were pooling behind her eyes and though she stopped them from falling, she couldn't help the hurt, the tremble in her voice. "I didn't mean to cause trouble; I was just trying to help."

Damon felt bad but he couldn't show that to her now, could he? So he just shrugged his shoulders and stood up on his feet, while Ric helped Caroline.

"Anyways, whats done is done. Now don't go running off again. We need to finish this by tonight. Everybody just stick together." Said the older vampire.

"Now, did you see him? His face?" Ric spoke for the second time after the incident.

"Yeah! I saw him. He doesn't know about you two. He thought I was a nomad, whatever that means and that I would be threat if I stayed here in his feeding area." She said.

"Well! That's good then. Lets hunt this guy down" Damon said and off they went.

It was almost an hour when Damon heard the rustling sound. He came to an abrupt halt and the other two got into defense pose immediately.

"He's not alone. He has someone with him." He listened some more and saw Care looking back at him. Obviously she heard him as well.

"He is hunting. If we want to catch him off guard, we need to go now. When we drink, all our senses become bit dull coz we give in to our nature but we are also stronger so we need to be careful, okay?"

The other two nodded their heads and as quickly but stealthily as possible, they made their way to where the vampire was.

Damon was pinning him to the tree in no second and Ric had shot a vervain laced stake towards his stomach.

"ughhhhh" the ripper screamed in agony. "What is this?" he asked but everyone could listen to the pain.

"Well, we have a problem and we're here to solve it" Damon said casually. The wooden stake was sticking out of his stomach.

"Then go solve it. What do you want from me?" he growled.

"You see, that is the thing. _You_ are our problem and we have to get rid of you." Ric said from where he was standing with Caroline, the bow in his hand, ready to shoot.

"What? I will fucking rip you apart. You have no idea what I can do" he said, still growling.

"That's the problem mate. We can't let you do any of that. So we have to do what we need." Damon said. The ripper was thrashing against Damon to get away but his grip was far too strong for him.

"You just came to the wrong place at the wrong time and did some absolutely wrong things. Didn't exactly help you" the blonde vampire said.

"You! You're with them. I should've killed you when I could, you bitch" the rage in his voice so clear.

Without saying anything, Damon punched another wooden stake in his gut and he screamed in agony.

"And that, right there, was your last mistake" Damon growled and before he finished his line, his hand was inside the ripper's body, squeezing his heart out of it.

Within seconds, his heart was out of his body and in Damon's hand. His body went limp within a blink of their eyes and Damon threw the heart away.

Ric helped him get the body wrapped in a rug they bought along and then he carried it to the area where the woods end. Caroline had gone and drove the car there after checking out from the motel. They got the body in the trunk and without any further delay, left for Mystic Falls.

"Are you two okay?" the raved haired vampire asked.

"yeah" the other two answered almost at the same time.

The nodded his head and focused on the road. Damon was driving the car now, after they secured the body inside the trunk.

Ric and Caroline had fallen asleep at one point of time and Damon was really content in the quiet.

He looked back to where Caroline was and smiled at the sight. She had a small smile on her face and her hair was moving wildly with the wind. She would scrunch up her nose at one point and then it would smoothen again. He thought she looked beautiful. But then he realized what he was doing and turned back, front.

They reached Mystic Falls around 8 in the morning and once they reached the boarding house, Damon woke the other two up.

"You guys go in, get fresh. I'll be back in a while" he said and without staying for reply, he drove off.

The other two didn't bother much with his ridiculousness. They went in the boarding house to take a much needed shower.

"Hello Liz" Damon said into the phone once she picked it up.

"Morning Damon. Anything wrong?" she asked coz it was very rare for the vampire to call her, himself. It was mostly the other way around.

"No. its something good actually. We got the … the other ripper. I am just near the woods of your house in my car. If you could come out." He asked and she hung up saying she'll be out in a moment.

She was in her uniform which meant she was either going out or just came in and looking at her, it was like she just came in.

"Rough night?" he asked once she got in the car.

"You've no idea" she chuckled. "And how did you do this so fast? Where is he?"

"In the trunk. Where do you want the body? I mean you want me to take care of it or should I hand it over to any of the deputies?" he asked.

"Can you do it? I mean, it was only me and Carol who knew about this and you. If you can then it will be better." The sheriff said.

"No problem. Do you want to see him?" the vampire asked and she nodded her head. They both got out of the car and he opened the trunk. Liz saw the dead vampire and looked at Damon with grateful eyes.

"Thank you so much Damon" she said sincerely.

"No problem! I'll see you later then." He said and she nodded. The sheriff went back inside her house and the vampire drove deeper into the woods.

After he found a place of his liking he dug it deep, got the body out of his car trunk and buried it there.

Once he was satisfied with his work he drove back to the boarding house.

Caroline had just came out after a shower and Ric was still in his room. Damon got in and started walking up the stairs to his room when he stopped Caroline.

"Hey!" he turned back to look at her. "You're okay, right?" he asked. Caroline could hear the genuine concern in his voice so she gave him a small smile.

"Yeah! I'm fine, just bit weak. I think I'm gonna heat a blood bag and drink it. Do you want anything?" she asked.

"Nah I'll be fine for now. You drink that and then get some rest, we will talk later."

The blonde vampire nodded her head and Damon gave her a small smile and went up to his room. After last night he was exhausted, so a long-hot shower was in line.

When he felt he was fresh enough, he went down and saw a mug of blood, heated waiting for him. Caroline was nowhere to be seen but he could hear her soft breaths coming from her room.

He took the mug and went upto his room quietly. He could hear Ric's evened breath and knew his best friend was sleeping as well.

And his body needed the rest too. So after he finished his mug, he bought the comforter down and fell asleep but not before a small;

"Thanks Caroline."

**A/N: _Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know :)_**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: _I know I am very late. Very sorry about it, I was out on a trip from my college. Its a bit longer than my usual ones and is more concentrated on the 'finding Stefan' part but there will be still be some Daroline. I hope that makes you happy enough for the time being. So without wasting any more time of yours, lets get on with it._**

Few more weeks had passed. Since the three got back to Mystic Falls, things almost went back to normal. Well, as normal as it could get.

Damon got back to his job as the head of The Council and helped Carol and Liz but thankfully there were no supernatural problems in the near future for the town. Caroline and Alaric continued going to school and the three girls started spending some time together since Elena was also back there.

Bonnie and Jeremy were back together and they were the only ones who were involved in anything 'love-related' in their group these days.

Caroline and Ric had almost permanently shifted to the boarding house with Damon since these two were the only ones who were remotely concerned about what kept Damon going these days: to get his little brother back.

When the three weren't working, they were making plans on rescuing Stefan from the big bad vamp-wolf hybrid. And now that Damon had first hand access to every single information, being the head of the council, they only took a break when necessary.

Caroline had one morning waked up late, stressing up on how she was late to get the two men breakfast. And later that same night when she came back in her room to sleep, she chuckled thinking how ridiculous she was being that morning. Almost acting like a mother to the two men or worse, wife.

The three had an understanding that was rare as well as intriguing. Never would have anyone thought that if there was ever to be a trio with Damon and Ric, the female would be Caroline. The one who most people thought would have been there was almost out of the picture though.

Damon had gone to talk to Elena a few weeks after the Riverland incident but when he came out of the Gilbert house, he was sure he wasn't going back there anytime soon. Elena, to say the least, had changed drastically in the past month. It was like she had become the old Elena, the one before her parents died. When she was least bothered about people in her lives and more on what she was going to wear next.

Everyone thought it was her way of coping to the whole Stefan debacle, but eventually they understood that it was indeed her being just herself. Damon still seethes remembering how their last conversation went.

* * *

"What are you doing Lena?" the vampire asked exasperated. She was sitting in her bed, painting her toe-nails not giving a damn about what Damon was saying.

"Huh?" she looked up, furrowing her eyebrows. "Painting my toes? Isn't it what they call it?" she said rolling her eyes.

He was getting irritated with her behavior. He had come to the Gilbert house to talk to Elena about _that_ night and most importantly about Stefan. But all he got from Elena were huffs and shrugs and eye-rolls. He didn't even know this girl.

"Elena! Did you even listen to what I just said? Goodness! What the hell is wrong with you?" he was to a point of aggravation now, his irritation level increasing with each passing moment.

She took a deep breath, kept the nail polish on the side table and turned towards him.

"See Damon, I don't think Stefan is coming back anytime soon. What I guessed, is that Klaus won't really be that keen on giving him back if he has so much interest in Stefan in particular. So I'm just gonna let bygones be bygones and be done with that. I have to live my own life." The doe-eyed human girl, shrugged.

Damon couldn't believe that it was the same Elena who was ready to die for everyone else, was saying such things. How could she? When his brother might need her the most?

"So you mean to say that it doesn't bother you even a bit that Stefan is gone? That you might never see him again? I thought you loved him." He said softly.

"I did, Damon, may be I still do. But he's gone and if he's not coming back then what's the point of me waiting? You should just let this thing be and move on with your life. When Klaus gets bored with him, he'll let him go and you can have your brother back. It's not like you're going to die anytime soon." She snorted.

"Oh! And what about me? What about that night when you kissed me thinking I was dying?" his voice so low that he thought may be even Elena didn't hear him, but he was wrong.

"I don't know what will appease you. I care for you Damon. You're a good friend to me and now that Stefan is gone, may be we could follow the path we never took and see where it leads us" she said taking a step towards him. Her hands shot out to touch the area of his chest visible.

The vampire could not believe his own ears. Was she really saying what he thought she was saying? But even after repeating it in his head for a numerous times, he still found that the human girl had indeed said those very exact words to him.

The weird part was, instead of being elated, he was not even remotely happy to hear those words. He was beyond repulsed by her. He grabbed his jacket and left her room before she could say anything else to him.

He was in such haste that he missed Caroline sitting in the Gilbert living room with Ric, Jer and Bonnie. All of them looking surprised but he didn't stay long enough to explain.

He chanced a glance towards Caroline and sure enough, she had every word. He knew she would tell them what had happened up there and he really didn't care about that anymore.

So without any further words he left to go drink till he could forget just about everything that was said and done in the past hour or so.

Caroline had heard everything that went upstairs between Elena and Damon in Elena's room all too well and she was pissed. She couldn't believe Elena would say something like that but she was more surprised that Damon was so appalled about that. She half expected Damon to jump right in to the opportunity that Elena had put in front of him.

"What was that? Why did he leave in such a haste looking like that?" asked the human boy. Jeremy had been concerned about his sister for the past few weeks and that was mostly why everyone was in the Gilbert's house today.

"Trust me, you don't want to know" the blonde vampire said, clearly not wanting Jer to know what his sister had said.

"Cummon Caroline, tell us. What happened up there?" asked Bonnie. In her mind, Care was sure that Bonnie thought it was Damon's fault whatsoever. The name 'Judgy' that Damon gave her wasn't any less apt.

"Well, you asked for it." Care turned to look at Jer and she felt sad. "Elena just proposed that now that Stefan is gone, she and Damon could get together and see where life led them, because she's sure that Stefan is not coming back anytime soon. She didn't even bother that Damon was actually here today to see if she wanted to know anything about Stefan and how she was holding up coz of Stefan leaving like that. Guess he knows now how she's feeling."

"No! She will never do that. Something must have happened, you heard wrong or something" Bonnie exclaimed and Caroline turned to look at her in anger. The veins were ready to pop out under her eyes anytime.

"Oh yes, sure. Coz good old Elena can never do such a thing. She's the perfect girl who does all the good things." The blonde vampire suddenly felt bad, after all Elena atleast used to be her best friend at one time, now though she could hardly recognize this girl. And also she didn't want Jeremy to know this side of Elena.

"I'm sorry Jer, I didn't mean to be so harsh. I am just mad at her" she said remorsefully, looking at the human boy. She took both his hands in her and tugged at them which made him look up to her, "I'm sooo sorry" she said, as she felt Jeremy hugging her in a vice grip.

"What has happened to her Caroline? She's not the sister I've known all my life. This change, it's not normal. What happened?" the poor boy sobbed in her arms and Care tried shushing him.

Suddenly they all looked up to see Elena standing by the stairs with a duffel bag by her side.

"I'm going out for the weekend." She said to no one in particular and was gone before anyone could say anything. She didn't even recognize the fact that Jeremy, her little brother was crying in the arms of now, one of her former best friend.

Alaric was silent during the whole conversation, not saying even a single word, or even making any sound of recognition. But when he saw Jeremy's break-out and Caroline looking up to him, he stood up.

"This is enough. Jeremy, pack some stuff, you're coming to the boarding house with us. Atleast for the next few days, you should just get out of here for a while." He said and Caroline felt so much relieved and happy when Jeremy accepted.

"Why does he have to go? He can stay here. If he needs I can come and stay with him for the time being. There is no need for him to be in that god-forsaken house with someone like Damon. Who knows what he'll do to him" Bonnie said with venom lacing her every word.

"That's enough, Bonnie! I understand you and Jer have a relationship, but you should remember I'm his local guardian and I know better than you to say where he should be and with whom. And before you say another word against Damon, remember, he's my best friend. You might be a witch but I've power over you since I'm a human. Your aneurisms won't work on me." Ric said angrily.

Nor Care neither Jer had ever seen him this angry. And Caroline was so happy when Ric defended Damon like that to Bonnie and said he was his best friend.

"How can you say that? I only want what is good for Jeremy" the witch said, exasperated.

"I know what is good for me" Jeremy said irritated before Ric could, not wanting this conversation to go any further.

"So you're siding with him?" she asked and Jer shook his head.

"Its not about taking sides, Bon. I thought you knew better than that. Anyways, Ric is my guardian and though I know he won't stop me if I refuse to go to the boarding house, I don't want to do that. I can't stay here alone right now and Ric and Care, they are family. And Damon for better or for worse, he is a friend. I hope you will accept this one-day." He said, a bit sadly.

"I cant believe this. I am gonna go, don't come back crawling to me when something happens" and with that she Bonnie left.

"Whatever! Lets get out of here. You want me help you pack?" the blonde vampire asked her former best-friends brother.

"Nah! I'll be fine. Give me ten minutes and then we can leave" he said, making his way upstairs.

Within next fifteen minutes, the three of them were out of the Gilbert house and getting in Caroline's car.

Damon was already in the boarding house when the other three got in, drinking his bourbon. Ric got himself a glass while Care got herself a glass of wine and gave Jeremy a beer.

"What is little Gilbert doing here?" Damon asked no one in particular.

"Since Elena up and left, me being Jeremy's guardian thought it was better for him to not stay alone in there but here with us. Rather me and Care going to check on him everyday, its better if he comes and stays with us" Ric said, giving no room for Damon to argue over.

"Yeah! Its better for me when I don't have to run to their house everytime with the food cooked. And he needs that." Said the blonde vampire and Damon shook his head.

He didn't really mind Jeremy that much. He was almost like what Stefan was to him, an irritating little brother. But he didn't want Elena or Bonnie to come invade his peace and privacy of his house coz of Jer.

"Its fine but keep your two best friends out of this place" he said looking at Care who just rolled her eyes.

"Ya ya … I got it" she shrugged and took another sip from her wine glass.

None of them said much that night. Rather than to have Caroline cook, Ric ordered pizza for all of them. They just ate and drank, some black and white movie going on in the TV but no one really paid attention. It was almost 2 in the night when every body headed to their respective rooms to get some much needed sleep.

* * *

That was a week back. Elena had come back from her weekend rendezvous but wasn't least bothered about the fact that Jeremy was now staying with Alaric, Caroline and Damon in the boarding house.

When Elena came back the following week, Caroline had thought that Jeremy would want to go back to their house and be with his sister but Ric was against this and to her great surprise, so was Jeremy himself. The human boy these days felt more comfortable at the boarding house with two vampires and one vampire hunter than to go be with his sister.

One thing that wasn't discussed in the house was the conversation between Elena and Damon in the Gilbert's house. Everyone thought about it, but no one bought it out in the open. Everyone continued with their daily routines. Jeremy, Caroline and Alaric spent their days in the school and Damon was either in the City Office or in the boarding house study room working on mission: Rescue Stefan.

Caroline had thought of a numerous times of numerous ways to bring out the topic in front of Damon, but eventually she chickened out every single time. She so badly wanted to know what Damon felt and why he left so hastily, like he was appalled by what Elena had proposed. After all, wasn't this what he had wanted all along? To have Elena for himself and not loose from his little brother again?

But she knew Damon didn't want to talk about it and she couldn't ask Ric or Jeremy to do the dirty work for her with this. Once she got close, she was about to ask him about that night when he suddenly had found a clue about Stefan's whereabouts and they had started planning right away, leaving no door open for other things to be discussed.

Jeremy was also helping them. Though he was not to accompany the three to any place that they might be going to look for Stefan, but he sat through their discussions and sometimes gave his input.

Once the group came very close to track Stefan and Klaus but they were late just by a few hours. The two had left town by the time three got their and Damon was seething. Every time something came in the way. Either they were late or they were played or something. Damon was a needle away from going off the rails, to try to turn it off again but even he knew he couldn't do that, not till he found his brother.

The trio was back from another failed trip and was brooding in the boarding house iving room when Jeremy walked in.

"You guys are back" he said simply.

Jeremy had been going through the papers and news updates along with the other and had noticed a pattern. He knew this even before they had left that they would not find Stefan there, but did not say anything coz he never knew about Damon's mood.

Damon looked at Jeremy and this time his expressions gave him away.

"Anything you have to say little Gilbert?" he asked and the other two also looked up at him.

"Its … I noticed something" Jeremy said at last. He couldn't be sure if he was right but atleast the others could try.

"And what would that be? A new girl?" the raven-haired vampire said sarcastically.

Jeremy sighed and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"What is it Jer?" asked Ric.

"You see, its been happening everytime. You three go but by that time Klaus and Stefan will be already out of that place. But there is a pattern to the places they go." He said looking at all of them.

"What pattern? What do you mean?" the blonde vampire asked now sitting straight.

"See, They are moving up north, but they don't go to all the towns where the road takes. The towns are fairly small, not like Philly or Virginia. Or even Mystic Falls small. They are even smaller, countryside towns where very few people live on daily basis, most of them are holiday homes and even they are too far apart from one another.

And also, the families that were massacred, all of them were there for their holidays, none of them were natives to that place and nobody in the immediate area knew much about them. And from what you guys told me, all the houses were ransacked, I don't think its only coz Stefan was in Ripper mode, killing everyone, I think Klaus is looking for someone, or something and just disguising it with Stefan's … umm … activities." explained Jer.

"There is one more thing, now that Jeremy mentioned it. I was going through few of the articles and I found something" said Ric, opening a page in his laptop to show the others.

It was an article on one of the many 'animal attacks' from the past months. He searched something more and then shook his head at what he saw.

"The names from that group are River Blackwell, Amanda Blackwell, Gabriel Adams and Rachel Adams. All of them were of age from 18-21 and they were there for just the weekend, partying out from college. Now the thing is, Blackwell is a name very uncommon so I just searched for it and guess who else's name came up?" he said.

"Who?" Caroline asked.

"Brady. Brady Blackwell. Our friend, who tried to kill us a while ago." He showed a picture of Brady with the River guy. "They are cousins of sorts from what it says" he showed the picture to others.

Damon was listening to everything all this time quietly but hearing Brady's name made his blood boil. He hated the guy with a passion. His mind flashed with images of Stefan, lying in the ground with a stake in his back, of Caroline all wounded. He had seen it in her mind, when she used to have nightmares after the incidents, of how they had locked her in that small cage and tortured her. seen what Brady did to her. No one ever knew that he used to go up to her room to the Sheriff's house to check on her after that incident.

"So you mean to say that this River guy is also a werewolf" he asked, suddenly very angry.

"He might be or he might not be. Depends on whether he activated the curse but he definitely had the werewolf gene in him." Said Ric.

"So what does all this mean? Why would Klaus kill a werewolf? Or make Stefan kill him? This doesn't make sense." asked the blonde vampire.

"Well, we can't be sure. May be he did not think that he will be killed and may be Stefan acted on his own. Or may be he got what he wanted from them and didn't want them to live long to tell the tale" said Jeremy.

"He's right, we cant be sure of any of it. There is one more thing. I looked some more, and most of the houses that were ransacked, had a connection to the previous house. You cant find it unless you look really close, but one member from one house, knew atleast one from the next. There has to be something that is going to go down, something big" said Ric.

"I think I know what it is." said the raven-haired vampire. He had been looking at all the facts in front of his eyes and his mind was screaming at one thing and one thing alone, HYBRIDS.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked.

"Klaus is looking for werewolves" he simply said and then looked at the other three.

Suddenly it clicked and Ric could see exactly what Damon was trying to say. He immediately opened a new page to search for something.

"I think you are right." He showed the page to others.

"He's going to make himself packs of hybrids" said Damon.

"That is what he is searching for then. Pack's location. He thought that someone would be able to tell him about it and I think I know one such location, the location he is searching for this time, at least." The human boy said.

"What do you mean you know?" Damon asked.

"You see, me and Tyler, we are friends now and he has told me a lot about the whole werewolf thing, especially of the time when he was on the road with Jules and the packs he met and where they went." He said.

"And?" Damon asked again.

"And there is a pack up in that same area, where Klaus and Stefan are headed." Jeremy took the laptop from Ric and searched for something. A map page opened and he showed it to them.

Damon looked at it and then at Ric and Caroline. The two of them nodded their heads and Damon looked back in the laptop screen again.

"Well folks, looks like we have a trekking trip to plan. We are going to the Appalachians."

**A/N: _So? How was it? Lemme know what you think and I'll get back with it as soon as possible :)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well it is a Sunday and here I am, with your next chapter. A bit short than the usual ones and a bit different. There is lots of Daroline but probably not what you expected. So I will stop my ramblings here and let you read it.**

"This is ridiculous. You are not coming with us. Hell, even she wouldn't be coming if it were upto me." said the raven-haired vampire exasperated, looking between the other vampire present in the room and the human boy.

Two days had passes since they decided to go to the Appalachians. And they were leaving tonight but before that, they had to take care of some stuff in the town.

As it is, Damon was irritated that they had lost two days already, 'doing nothing' as he put it and now that human boy was giving him another headache.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" said the blonde vampire as she glared at her sire. How dare he say that she couldn't come with them if it were upto him? How many times did she have to prove that she was not girly little Caroline anymore?

"Don't Blondie. Not now." said the other vampire. "If you can do something, get it inside his head that he cannot come with us."

"And why cant I? After all it was me who figured out the plan in the first place. I can help." said the human boy, now desperate.

"It is not safe" growled the older vampire. How many times has this boy encountered a real threat from a vicious vampire werewolf hybrid and who knew what condition Stefan was in these days or about the place they were going. You could never be cautious enough about these stuff.

"I can take care of myself" said the boy.

"Of course you can." muttered the vampire. These teenagers of today, he thought.

"He is right, he is old enough. He can come with us if he wants to" said the blonde vampire.

"Is it now? Fine then! You both are not coming. I am going with Ric and you two can stay back here in Mystic Falls" said the raven haired vampire.

"The fuck I am staying back" she screamed so loud the other two guys had to hold their hands to their ears.

"Now now Blondie, no need to get violent here. You don't want the baby boy to run off screaming coz you are behaving like a banshee" he said and she glared at him.

"You listen to me Damon Salvatore. I am coming with you to the Appalachians, whether you like it or not. I just don't give a damn and if Jeremy wants then he sure as hell will join us. Stop underestimating everyone else just because they were weak once. He isn't that little boy now and neither am I some weakling. I can take care of myself very well." She said and both men were now gaping at her.

"This is madness" said the older vampire after a few seconds "but I guess I am out of the discussion now. Just remember Barbie, if anything happens to him, you are responsible and you are going to talk to Ric about him, not me. If he asks, I'll tell him directly that I said no and that you two were being a pain in my ass" he said before walking out of the room without another glance towards the two of them.

"Oh thank god. Thank you so much Care. You are awesome" said the human boy. The vampire girl had never seen him this excited, ever.

"Calm down" she said, chuckling a bit. "Go and pack your stuff quickly. We are leaving tonight. Meanwhile I'll go talk to Ric" she said to him. He was walking out of the door when she called him once again. "And Jeremy, let Elena know that you are going with us. Where and why is upto you to say whatever you want."

He nodded and gave her a small smile before leaving for the Gilbert House.

By the time Caroline reached Ric's apartment, it was almost 3 in the noon. The vampire hunter had come back to his apartment that day to get more from his stock of supernatural killing weapons.

"Ric?" she asked as she walked in through the front door.

"Yeah, in here" his voice sounded to be coming from his bedroom.

She walked in to find him sitting in his chair with his laptop in his lap. He was doing more research, she guessed.

"Found anything new?" she asked as she came closer to get a view of what he was looking at.

"Yeah! I guess. Jeremy was right, they are moving towards the Appalachians, there was one more attack yesterday. The place was from a 5 days journey to the Appalachians." He said and she nodded.

"Oh! Well I have to tell you something." She said nervously and he looked at her curiously.

"What?" he asked confused. "Is it anything about you and Damon? Please don't ask me for any advice for him" he said and now it was her turn to be confused.

"What? Why would I need advice from about Damon?" she asked and he looked down sheepishly.

"Nothing nothing! I was only joking. Now tell me, what is it?" he asked.

"Umm … err .. Its … Je … umm … JeremyIsComingWithUs" she said in a rush and he looked at her, now even more confused.

"What did you just say?" he asked again and she took a deep breath.

"Jeremy, he wants to come with us and I told him that he can" she said calmly but the person opposite to her was anything but that.

"What? You gave permission? Seriously Care, what the hell were you thinking? He is a child, just 17 years old." He said exasperated.

"Cummon Ric, Jer is a big boy now, he can take care of himself and moreover, he doesn't want to go back to the Gilbert house, with just him and Elena living there." She said as the other man looked at her.

"This isn't a reason for him to come with us to the Appalachians. What did Damon have to say about this?" he asked and Caroline looked down nervously.

"He didn't like the idea, isn't it?" he asked and she sighed.

"Not liking the idea would be an understatement" she said and he laughed.

"He is right you know, he only wants him to be safe and coming with us is not safe for him." He said and the blonde vampire looked desperate.

"But don't you think we should let Jeremy decide for once what is best for him? All this time Elena was breathing down his neck, then Bonnie, now that he is with us, shouldn't we let him do what he wants to and not throw our decisions at him?" she asked the human sighed.

"I get what you are saying but .." he trailed off.

"Just hear him out once, if you still think he should stay back then I'll tell him to do so." She said and he nodded his head in agreement.

They both left soon after for the boarding house with one bag full of weapons and another with few other necessary items of daily life.

Jeremy was already sulking in the living room sofa when they both got there.

"What happened?" asked the blonde vampire, coming to sit near him.

"What will happen? My sister just told me that I am being a brat and that I should come home rather than stay with you people here or wherever the hell you are taking me." he said quoting his sister's words.

"At least she still has a brain" said the older vampire, walking down the stairs from his room.

"Oh please Damon, stop doing that to Jeremy. He is a grown up and can very well make his own decisions." said the blonde vampire and turned to face her ex-bestie's little brother. "Go to the study and talk to Ric."

Both the human men left for the study and now the two vampires stood, shooting daggers, in front of each other.

"What is your problem?" she asked and he huffed.

"My problem? What is your problem?" he bit back.

"I don't have one" she said and he rolled his eyes.

"Sure you don't Blondie!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! That's supposed to mean nothing, other than the fact that you are out of your mind. What were thinking permitting Jeremy to come with us? He is a human, remember. He might be a grown up but he hasn't dealt with stuff we are going to face. What will you do if something happens to him in this so called trip?"

Suddenly all his logic's seemed to make sense to the blonde vampire. When she said yes to Jeremy coming with them, all she was thinking about was how nobody took him seriously, just like they never took her seriously. It was more of a thing to prove something rather than a rational decision and now she was sort of regretting it. But of course, now that she had done it, she had to hold her ground.

"I told you Damon, he can take care of himself and I will be there as well, to keep an eye on him. He will be fine" she said quickly and he shrugged.

"Just don't come crying to me when something happens. Coz this time Caroline, I have my own brotherly issues to deal with, I wont have time to deal with anything more. Especially when Klaus is involved, I thought you knew better than that" he said.

He hardly ever called her by her actual name and this time when he did, she did not like it, not one bit, not at all.

"You called me Caroline." She said out of nowhere.

"From all the things I just told you, that was the only thing you got?" he asked annoyed but kind of amused too.

"Yes, I mean no. I understand what you said but … let it be" she sighed.

"That would be great" said the raven haired vampire, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Just then Alaric and Jeremy returned to the living room &the two vampires turned to look at them.

"So? Are you coming with us?" asked Caroline, now a bit anxious.

"Yeah! But there are conditions and if he doesn't follow what rules I lay he'll be coming back to this place before he can utter a single word." said the vampire hunter.

Jeremy looked relieved as well as anxious. And that was exactly what Caroline was feeling at this moment.

"Great! Okay then. Lets leave for the Appalachians." Said the blonde vampire.

"Just a minute" the other vampire had not said a word about the whole Jeremy thing but he had to, now.

"Look Jeremy, I don't care what you think you can do but keep in mind. We are taking a risk here letting you come with us. So help me god, if you create even the slightest of problems for me, I will kick your ass, literally. I might not be able to kill you because of the other two here" he said pointing to his two other companions, "But I'll make it hell for you" he said and then in a blur he was back in his room.

It was not even a minute later that a fuming blonde came barging into his room as he was getting all his stuff in his duffel.

"What was that? Couldn't you have been a bit more sensitive? He is not some vampire hunter or shit like that, he is a normal boy. And instead of placating him, you are making him more anxious"

The older vampire was on her in a second, his hand gripping her throat to the point of choking. If it weren't for the fact that she didn't need to breath, she would probably be suffocating. It was painful none-the-less. How much ever she tried to break free from his grasp, she just could not.

"Oh! So now you remember that he is a normal boy who can't take care of himself on his own? Now you remember that he needs me to be sensitive? Well, news flash Barbie, he is walking in on a werewolf lair where we might be able to find my brother, who by the way has put his emotions off, he has turned into a ripper and the big bad original hybrid is with him. So you have done a real great job in placating him" he growled in her ears.

He let her go after that and she was trying to take deep breaths.

"Leave, I need to get my stuff. I'll meet you people downstairs in a minute." he said.

She was still standing there catching her breath but after he sent her another glare, she flee the room.

Back in his room, Damon sat in his bed with a huff, his hands holding his head. He didn't want this but he had to do this. He saw how close they were getting and now was not the time to get distracted by anything, especially when he was so close to getting his brother back.

These past few months he had noticed a different Caroline. A Caroline who took care of him, who was a good friend and a good companion. A Caroline who wasn't a dumb blonde to be your eye-candy anymore. She was a strong woman now who had seen far too much in the short span of time than she should ever have to.

She was the Caroline who was a mature, understanding person who had it in herself to forgive him for all the horrible things he had done to her and be his friend when he needed her. A Caroline _he_ actually liked, and possibly he could easily fall in …

He stopped the thought there itself, now is not the time, he repeated it in his head for as many times as he could. It was more for his own sanity than anything else, really.

He picked his duffel up and walked out of his room, down to the living room. his best friend and the human boy was sitting in one of the sofas but the blonde vampire wasn't in sight.

She heard soft sobs coming out of her room and he had this odd sensation in his heart to go and comfort her but he couldn't. Not now, he repeated again.

"Lets leave" he said instead and sat his duffel bag in the floor.

He heard her breath hitch for a second and then heard the sound of water. The vampire sighed, he didn't want to this but he had to because if he let her get any more close to him, she will be hurt and that was the last thing he wanted on top of everything else that is been going on.

Caroline walked out of her room after a minute, changed into a comfortable t shirt and jeans with her duffel on her shoulder. She glanced at him once but did not say anything.

"Okay then, off we go" said Ric, moving out of the room, with Jeremy in his tow. Caroline followed after him with Damon in the end. He locked the house and got in the jeep Ric had gotten for them. And believe me, Damon was not at all happy to leave his precious Camaro behind, but he had to.

With a last glance towards the boarding house, the four set out on a road that still was unknown to them. They knew only one thing, they had to get him back. They had to get Stefan back.

**A/N: _Well? What do you think? How was this one? Leave me your reviews. you know I love them and if have any questions then you can always PM me :)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: _So I give you full rights to kill me if you can find me within a day :P Anyways, jokes apart, I am sooooo sorry that I've not uploaded anything for these past few weeks. I know all of it is excuse but I was just busy, with college, classes, projects, assignments and exams. And to top it all, nothing was coming to my mind, and I mean nothing at all. I just hope you people are still with me after all this time and will read this next chapter. I cant promise anything about when the next chapter will be up but one thing that I can promise, is that I wont be abandoning the story, may however long it takes for me to finish it :) So without any further explanation, I leave you all with this new chapter. Enjoy :)_**

She had no idea why suddenly he was being so hostile. These last few months she had come to know a new Damon. Not someone who was very kind and polite, coz lets admit, that just won't be _Damon,_ but at-least that Damon wasn't killing everyone in his line of sight.

This Damon was however, though not trying to kill everyone, was much worse than any other version of him. Because this Damon was a distant Damon. He was not letting anyone to get close to him. Especially not her.

The first few hours of the drive were fairly quiet. Except few questions from Jeremy, who was excited, nervous and anxious. So whenever he thought of anything, he would ask.

Caroline tried to answer his questions coz Ric was driving and he didn't want any 'distractions' for the time being and Damon, well, he didn't give a damn about what questions Jeremy was asking coz he just didn't care. He only looked out of the window as they passed by.

"So, umm … If we get Stefan back, does that mean Elena will be back as she was before he left and they would get back together?" he asked all of a sudden.

The blonde vampire had no idea what to answer to this question of his. She looked in front where the other two people were sitting but you couldn't see anything different in their stature if you didn't have abnormal sight, which for her benefit, she had. But those two made no gesture to answer the boy.

The raven-haired vampire shifted his eyes a little so that now he could see the blonde girl. He himself wanted to know what she thought about the whole thing. And the vampire hunter sat up a bit straighter, which meant he was also interested in her answer.

She sighed, not exactly knowing what to answer to the human boy but she had to try.

"I … I don't know Jer, I mean, you can't be holding a candle for the fact that Elena will go back to who she was before. She has changed and if she becomes who she was before Stefan left then we can only be thankful but … but I highly doubt that. I am sorry, Jer." She held his hand in her and squeezed it little in comfort.

"No … No no … why would you be sorry for that. I knew the answer even before I asked you the question. Guess I just wanted something to hold on to the fact that my sister might change back to the girl we once knew." said the human boy, bit sad.

"Moreover, we have to focus on getting Stefan back. That is more important right now."

"Yeah, you are right." she sighed and then looked out of her side window.

As soon as it was quiet, her mind again started to drift towards how Damon was behaving with her, and moreover, why? Had she done something wrong? Had something happened that he didn't want to talk about? If so, then what was it? Her mind was full of questions but she had no answer to it.

"No, I'm fine for a few more hours." said Ric.

"Shut up! None of us have slept since last 48 hours, you need it. I can drive now and you get some sleep. You can take the next shift after you have had some sleep." said the vampire.

This time Ric did not argue. They parked the car on one side of the road, both exchanged places and then Damon took the driver's seat while Ric sat on the passenger's side.

Within the next one hour, both humans were asleep. The raven-haired vampire was driving through the night and the blonde one kept looking out of the window as the night passed away.

"Why are you being so distant?" the blonde asked out of nowhere. And if he weren't almost a 150 year old vampire he would have jerked at the suddenness of her question. But he only hitched a breath at it.

"What do you mean?" he asked, almost sounding as if he didn't care but of course she heard the uneasiness in his tone.

"Well, you know exactly what I mean but if you really want me to explain than I will" she sighed. "You are distancing yourself, from all of us, especially me and I don't know why. Did we do or say something? Did _I _do anything?" she asked, almost pleading him.

"Why would you think something as crazy as that? Of course not! I am not distancing myself and you certainly have not done anything" he said but she knew better.

"I don't believe you."

"Too bad, I was telling you the truth."

"Then what is the problem? Why are you behaving so nonchalant all of a sudden? Whatever I do, you don't approve. Its like you hate my guts and though I know we haven't always had a pleasant relationship with each other but I thought we had overcome that and now were in better terms." she said, her voice so low that if he were a normal human, he wouldn't have heard her. But of course he wasn't a normal human so heard what she said, perfectly.

"We were … I mean, we are in better terms. And I don't hate you Blondie, you know that. I am …" he doesn't finish his sentence.

"You are worried about this trip, aren't you? You are worried about what's going to happen once we find Stefan!" she says. It's after one full minute that he nods his head.

"I can't stop thinking about what I'll get to see once we find him. What he will be like this time. I have seen the ripper and it's not pleasant. And it's not even that I am stressing about." The raven-haired vampire exhaled quietly.

"Then what is it?" the blonde asks softly.

"I know my brother Caroline. He's always hard on himself. I know how self-loathed he becomes once he comes out of his ripper self. I have seen how it hurts him and I cant see that." You could hear it in his voice how much he loved his little brother. How it was killing him to know that his brother would be hurt after the ordeal. And Caroline has never seen her sire so sad.

"We'll be there this time with Stefan, Damon. He won't be alone and we'll do whatever we can do to help him" she said earnestly.

"You say that now Barbie but even you have no idea what he is now. I know that once you see him in his element, best friend or not, it will be too much for you. Even if it is short-lived." he exhaled.

She didn't know what to say to him so she opted to be quiet and gazed out of the window again. Her mind full of questions.

Damon was grateful of the quiet. He tried not to think about the conversation he had just had, but he couldn't stop. So he thought of his brother and how he was going to help him once he finds him.

It wasn't until next morning, that everyone was awake. The four stopped near a motel and got a room to get fresh and take showers. Ric and Jer being first to get showered went out to get them some breakfast from a nearby deli.

They ate while chit-chatting a bit and then got on the road again.

This time again Ric took the driver's seat while Jeremy took the passengers seat leaving Damon and Caroline for the two back seats.

It didn't take long for Damon to fall asleep and Caroline soon followed.

He saw Stefan standing in-front of him. His eyes eerily quiet, but that wasn't what he found disturbing. It was as if Stefan couldn't see him, his eyes were point blank. There was nothing in there and he had never looked more lifeless or more sinister.

He knew he was dreaming, in fact he was so sure he did not even _try _to deny it. But it still did not make it any easier for him to see his little brother like this.

"Kill them" he heard a voice say. And within a blink of an eye he saw his brother move. His eyes moved along with Stefan and he saw how ruthlessly he killed each one of them standing in his vicinity. The sound of bodies falling in the ground, the cries of the dead men, and the laughter from the back, nothing was as cruel as the guttural sound of his brother's satisfactory groans. It sounded as if he lived for those crying sounds.

His body was jerked back to reality when Ric hit the brakes. He was instantly glad to be out of his dream. He hated seeing Stefan like this but mostly he hated that he wasn't there to help his brother with this.

It was almost evening; the vampire couldn't believe he had slept for so long. He looked at his side to see Caroline, already awake.

"Do you want to eat anything?" she asked once she saw he was awake.

The raven-haired vampire shook his head no. "I'm fine. How long have you been up?" he asked.

"Not long, just a couple of hours I guess. We three already ate something and I saved a sandwich for you, its here," she said tapping a box in her hand. "Get it when you feel like eating."

"Thanks" he gave a her a small smile with a nod.

None of them talked much after that for which Damon was actually glad. Coz all he could think about the dream he saw of Stefan earlier. And that only wanted to make him get to his little brother faster and get him out of there.

"Are you okay?" the blonde-vampire asked from the side, quietly.

She had been looking at him for quite some time and she could see the distress in his features.

"Yeah … yeah I'm fine" he shrugged.

"Well … You don't look fine. You know you can tell me, Damon"

"I know. I just don't have anything to tell you right now Blondie."

:If you insist …" she said. She knew there would be no point in pestering him about anything. If it got worse he will just snap and that won't b good for anyone sitting in the car. So she just let it go but still kept an eye on him, just in case.

The rest of the time passed uneventfully. Some mindless chatter but mostly there was silence.

Jeremy and Ric had switched places in between while Damon was sleeping and now Jeremy was driving the car. Damon was actually impressed because Jer was going pretty fast without causing any problems.

"By when will we be reaching the area?" Jer asked.

"I suppose early morning tomorrow" Ric answered.

"Which reminds me, you should let me drive now. Lets stop somewhere for a bit now and freshen up a bit and I can take the next shift to drive" said the older vampire.

"He's right. You two get some sleep. We have had our rest" said the blonde, agreeing with her sire.

No one argued. Within the next half hour they were stopped outside a small motel. They rented it for an hour and got freshen up. Damon ate the sandwich Caroline had saved for him and stocked up on what they needed from the nearby store before resuming their journey.

Jer and Ric took the back seats now and within minutes fell asleep. Damon was now more awake than ever and Caroline was all to aware of that. He could feel the anxiousness coming off of him in waves.

They were just a few hours away from where Stefan was. And this time, probably they won't be late. It actually felt different this time. Like they knew that they were about to face something this time, they wont be leaving without anything.

But they couldn't be sure what they would be coming back with. Damon wasn't the only one who was so jittery, Caroline was as well and so were Jeremy and Alaric. All of them were looking forward to what the next morning would bring.

"It will be fine. We'll find him this time" said the blonde. He put a comforting hand on his thigh.

He looked at her to his side and nodded minutely but of course she still saw the movement and offered him a soft smile. But he wasn't _that _optimistic yet to return that.

He looked front again. No one spoke after that. With Jer and Ric asleep and Damon being too anxious to do anything, Caroline again looked out from her side of the window.

Somehow she knew that this peace she had right now was not going to last very long. She could feel that the next morning wont be anything like what they had been through till now.

So she soaked in it. She soaked in the quiet of the night and let her mind be of for once, coz tomorrow when they face whatever it was it was going to change things, in a lot of ways then what they expect.

She didn't know when exactly she fell asleep. Because the next time she opened her eyes, the car had stopped.

Jeremy and Alaric had woken up in the back and every one of them looked anxious, excited and dare she say, nervous.

Of no idea what they were going to face in the time that comes, all of them got out of the car. Ric and Jer stretched their arms but Damon was still as a stone.

"I'm going to get the weapons from the back" said Ric and went to get the weapons bag from the trunk.

The blonde vampire moved towards her sire and held his hand in her. The raven-haired vampire looked to his side at her face and took a deep breath.

"Thanks" he whispered softly. He did not say anything else but she did not need it. She knew exactly what he meant.

"Don't, Damon. I would have been here, even if you didn't want me. I would have been here, for Stefan, for you." She said softly. He nodded but didn't say anything more.

"You guys about ready?" asked the vampire and after everyone got whatever weapons they needed, they were ready.

He looked at his friends once more and searched for the last time if they were hesitant about what they were about to do. But when he couldn't find anything he just took a deep breath and led them to whatever the future had in store from them.

"Let's go then."

**AN: _Like it? Love it? HATE it? Just lemme know ;) _**

_**PS. I love you all who Favorited and are following me and this story. Its only because of you that I am still able to write something.**_

_**PPS. Thank you for not trying to kill me :P**_


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